I would agree with your comment, though my experience with segmentation is that it tells you where to look for the most probable sales. In my view, right now, narrowing your field of view right away may not be the best thing to do.

The post wasn't intended as an anti-segmentation screed, more an assessment that probabilities of close are going to be low, so you better have lots of leads–and do whatever you need to to get that list as big as possible.

in fact, i think the process you describe (”Understanding the business problem her solution addresses is the first step. Then, finding customers suffering acutely from that problem is paramount.”) is a form of segmentation — akin to a needs state segmentation, the approach i often recommend in consumer marketing. by grouping people according to their needs states and identifying which ones are best met by your product, you are in essence targeting segments of high-potential prospects.

do you agree?